Unknown Soldier

The Lowdown
The second coming by Kiss saw them launch an album that would not only become one of the biggest selling of the year, but most importantly open the band up to a whole new generation of music listeners and these two factors alone returned them to the top of the rock hierarchy in 1983. The previous year’s Creatures of the Night had been where it had really started and in fact that album was stronger track for track than Lick it Up (see review) BUT the big difference between that album and this album was that on Lick it Up the New Yorkers had finally removed their trademark make-up, which had been a mainstay for over a decade and the band now revealed themselves finally in the flesh! Lick it Up as an album, is as much about the new naked look of the band as it is about the music on the album. The make-up should’ve been removed on Creatures of the Night to compliment their return to a heavy sound, probably their heaviest even though the Gene Simmon’s tracks here can match it. Instead it happened a year later and in fact the timing may have been spot on, as 1983 was the year that glam metal broke big time and despite not being a glam metal band per se, Kiss were one of the biggest influences behind that movement and even with their make-up stripped off their naked look fitted neatly into that movement as elder statesman. Overall they were essentially to glam metal what Judas Priest had been to the NWOBHM a few years earlier. The album cover displays Gene Simmons as the macho focal point, with Eric Carr looking subdued next to him, despite having been the star turn on the Creatures of the Night album. New guitarist Vinnie Vincent looks cool despite his limited guitar ability, but its Paul Stanley’s somewhat effeminate rock star pose, that leans the look of the band into glam metal territory, which made the new look extremely contemporary for the period and the album cover’s all white backdrop looks great too. With no Ace Frehley in the band, Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons split the vocals between them so five songs apiece. So starting with Paul Stanley, the album opens up with vocals like ‘deep in the night I am waiting’ ‘and I know what you want’ ‘heaven is yours for the taking’ and ‘pleasure and pain’ all are just the type of thing I always imagine Paul Stanley singing and are contained on the album opener “Exciter” and the song turns out to be a pretty blistering heavy staple. Not much needs to be said about “Lick it Up” a song that everybody on the planet must know unless they’ve lived under a rock and the video is a must see. “Gimme More” promises much but offers little, but the rap rocker “All Hell’s Breakin’ Loose” is a good inclusion and written by all four members, his final song “A Million to One” is the type of song that Paul Stanley always did so well and his voice is perfectly suited to. The Gene Simmon’s efforts are all mid-paced pounders and start with “Not for the Innocent” and this song is mean and moody, and so friggin loud and probably my favourite on the album, especially with its bad ass lyrics! “Young and Wasted” is another great loud muscle song and things get faster on “Fits Like a Glove” but “Dance All Over Your Face” is a poor track, whilst the album closer “And on the 8th Day” hardly matches “I Love it Loud” from the previous album. The album would be highly influential and would be a prime mover behind the whole glam metal scene and Kiss along with the likes of Def Leppard and Van Halen, would be one of those bands from this period that would be borrowed by the glam metal movement in the 1980s. I also have great memories of this album as when it first came out, I was into my early years of buying music and when I bought this I already had Destroyer and found that the difference between the band with and without make-up a fascinating contrast. Finally I’ve travelled to about three continents and seen numerous hard rock and heavy metal cover bands covering various songs and if memory serves me right, all of those bands covered the “Lick it Up” track and covered it well, which shows just how far reaching this Kiss album really was.

Paul Stanley- Rhythm/Vocals
Gene Simmons- Bass/Vocals
Vinnie Vincent- Guitar
Eric Carr- Drums

Production-Michael James Jackson and Kiss

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